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="Avatar"= |- | colspan="2"| Back to the Index Page |} ---- Teaser http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top Scenes from "Archangel" Jim Byrnes, voice over as we see Jason Landry enter the cave: "A lifelong search came to an end for Professor Jason Landry." Allison, talking to Duncan MacLeod: "He believed the Zoroastrian myths of ancient Persia held the truth about a cycle of evil that comes to the earth every thousand years." Landry, reading over the inscription in the cave: "Ah-ri-man." Cut to him talking to Duncan and Richie outside the barge. "The time is at hand. He is coming!" Jim Byrnes, over scenes of Duncan seeing Horton, of the statue in the cave zapping Foster, and of Landry being killed: "Ahriman had risen, and threatened to destroy the world with evil. Only a champion of good could defeat it." Cut to a shot of Landry's journal, with "The next warrior Mac Leod" written in it. "The myth foretold of a warrior who would come to challenge the demon." Allison, voice over: "You're the champion, aren't you?" Richie and Joe are talking, Richie saying: "There's a reason immortals exist, and maybe this is it." Joe, skeptical: "Yeah, this has been going on for thousands of years, and no one has ever heard of it." This scene is from the Eurominutes, by the way, so don't worry if you don't recognize it! --Jinjifore Ahriman, as Landry, sets fire to Allison's apartment. Methos and Joe come to the barge to talk to Duncan. Joe: "We think you're in trouble, Mac." Duncan, laughing shortly: "You think I'm in trouble. Richie, on the phone to Duncan: "Look, I saw him, he's got Joe." Duncan: "That's impossible." Richie: "No. Look, I know what I saw. I think they headed into the old racetrack." Duncan at the track, gets shot by Horton, and Richie heads for the noise as Duncan confronts the others. Kronos: "I existed before time began." Horton: "I am Set." Richie: "I am Ahriman." Cut to a shot of Richie's eyes glowing red. Jim Byrnes, over Duncan fighting against the demons: "The forces of darkness walked the earth, and Duncan MacLeod fought to destroy them." Duncan turns, and sees Richie standing there. "Until the unthinkable happened." Duncan swings, taking Richie's head. Joe and Methos come on the scene, and Methos puts his arms around Joe as he sobs. Beside Richie's body, the katana Duncan left behind glows red. ''Changes in opening credits As you may notice from the change in the "Starring" list, the opening credits were slightly altered. They're identical to the fourth and fifth season credits up to Adrian's name. After that there's a cut to Amanda from "The Lady and the Tiger" where she's suspended over the museum case, then to a shot from "Double Eagle" for the name. Next there's a cut to Methos and Duncan fighting under the tunnel in "Methos," then a shot of Methos from "The Modern Prometheus" over Peter Wingfield's name [http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#anotes Notes.] They also changed the shot used for Joe, using one from "Glory Days" instead, and used only the snip of him playing the guitar from "The Cross of St. Antoine" before his name, cutting all the other Joe clips. '' Act One http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top Kampak Monastery Outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia One Year Later Duncan MacLeod is standing in the middle of a room in the temple, dressed in loose trousers, doing a slow, meditative workout. As he continues the workout, he flashes on memories of Richie. He sees him as they hug each other after Richie's return in "Prodigal Son." He continues the exercise, making a sound that sounds like a laugh, then more sighing moans as he remembers Richie again. He sees him, standing on the street, headlights behind him. Duncan continues, and again remembers, this time after the movie in "Reluctant Heroes," he and Richie walking down the street together. After this, Duncan begins to work out even harder, his movements more active, also using a staff. He flashes to the end of "Prodigal Son," passing the bottle of brandy over to Richie. After that memory, Duncan looks at himself in a mirror, then reaches down and picks up a knife. Kneeling in front of the mirror, he begins to cut off his hair. When it's done, he looks in the mirror again, then looks at the knife in his hand. Duncan, softly: "No more tears." He spins the knife on his palm, then flips it down and catches it. He rises and with the same motion throws the knife across the room, sending it into the middle of the open page of Landry's diary, striking a drawing of Ahriman right in the heart. ---- At a cemetery, Joe Dawson is standing by Richie Ryan's grave. Joe: "I guess it's just you and me, Richie. I can't believe it's been a year already." Behind him, Duncan walks up quietly, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and sunglasses. Joe keeps talking. "Wish I could tell you why this happened. You know, make sense of it. But I can't. I'm sorry." Duncan: "He knows why." Joe whips his head back, startled, then sighs and says with false cheerfulness: "Well. Welcome back." He turns away again. Duncan: "Glad you stayed in Paris." Joe, bitterly: "Somebody had to." Duncan comes up to him, and Joe gestures to the grave. "I--I buried him with his sword." They both look at the headstone, which reads, "Richie Ryan. 22 years. Friend." Joe: "I didn't know what else to put on the headstone. This seemed right." Duncan, nodding: "Friend . . . is good." He nods again. "Because that's what he was." Joe turns, suddenly dropping the casual act: "You know, I have had fifty Watchers beating the bushes looking for you. Where the hell have you been?" Duncan, calm: "Does it matter?" Joe: "Yeah! To me it does!" Softer. "I thought we were friends." Duncan, still calm: "We are!" Joe: "Well, then what happened to you." Duncan turns away, saying quietly: "I had some things to work out." Joe's voice softens: "Hey, look. I--I know what you must have gone through after . . . after the accident." Duncan turns to him, staring: "It wasn't an accident, Joe. Richie was murdered. What do you want me to say, that it was a mistake, that I was out of my head, and hallucinating?" Joe, nearly shouting: "That would help!" Duncan: "I was a weapon." Joe looks at him warily. "This thing used me to kill Richie." Joe: "Don't you think I want to believe you? I mean, that the bad guy in this thing is a . . . is a Zoroastrian demon named Ahriman." Duncan: "But it's true, Joe." Joe, skeptical: "And you are the champion. You're the guy who's been chosen to go up against this thing." Duncan: "That's right." Joe: "And why you?" Duncan, unsure now: "I don't know." Joe: "And if this thing is so powerful, why doesn't it just, I don't know, strike you with a lightning bolt or something." Duncan: "Maybe it can't. Maybe that's the rules to the game." He looks at Joe. "Will you help me? I need the Watchers." Joe stares. "I need you." Joe, not believing it: "You disappear for over a year. No one knows if you're alive, you're dead. And then you pop up out of nowhere and you want me to get the Watchers to help you. Well, you don't want much, do you." He turns away, angry. Duncan, coming around to face him again: "When Richie died, I wanted to die. Then I realized that if his death was to mean anything I had to survive! I had to understand what happened, I had to believe what happened. This thing is evil, Joe. And I'm the only thing that can stop it. And I will stop it. I'm going to find it, and I'm going to destroy it." He pauses. "Will you help me?" Joe, tightly: "I don't know." Duncan looks away, and Joe turns and walks to his car, leaving Duncan crouched by Richie's grave. ---- Sophie Baines and Anna are walking to bus stop. [http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#anotes Notes Anna: "You know what you need, Sophie? A husband." Sophie pushes her glasses up on her head, giving her a long-suffering look. Undaunted, Anna goes on. "What was wrong with Henry?" Sophie: "Henry?" She shrugs. "He just wasn't my type." Anna: "And Andrew didn't like him." Sophie shrugs again: "Well . . ." Anna: "One of these days, your baby brother is going to have to make it on his own." Sophie, distressed: "But I'm all he has." Anna: "You're too good for your own good, Sophie Baines." They reach the bus stop, and she reaches for Sophie's hand, pretending to read her palm. "I see a man in your future." A flower vendor begins to walk toward them, carrying a tray of white roses. "Tall, dark, mysterious . . ." Sophie, laughing: "I know that guy. He delivers my mail." Anna: "I hope he's faster than this bus." She turns to look for the bus, and as she does the flower seller comes up to them. Flower vendor, picking up a white rose: "We have lovely red roses today." Sophie looks in the tray, where a single red rose rests among the white ones. She looks at the seller strangely, and whispered voices begin to play in the background. Sophie reaches hesitantly for the red rose. Sophie, haltingly: "I think I'll take this one." She picks up the rose and smells it, and the vendor looks from her to Anna. His eyes flare briefly red, and he backs away as Sophie's companion reaches in her purse for money to pay him. Sophie turns and wanders down the sidewalk, still staring at the rose. Sophie, distracted: "You know, I've changed my mind." Anna looks after her, puzzled. "I think I'll walk today." ---- In the cemetery, a white rose is dripping blood, Duncan staring at it as Horton speaks from behind him. [http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#anotes Notes Horton: "Even the flowers weep." Duncan turns. "Yes, such a sad story, MacLeod. All alone, and no one to believe you." Horton is smiling at him from across the clearing. He turns and paces a bit. "Perhaps your friend Richie would listen." Duncan, tightly: "Richie's dead." He steps toward Horton, who begins to circle. Horton: "So now the champion's back to fight me." He chuckles. "You want to die, MacLeod? You know that's what's going to happen. Why don't you just be smart, go back to that little monastery you've been hiding away in?" He pauses, considering. "I wonder what it would take to make you leave." Duncan, smiling coldly: "Destroying you." Horton drawls: "I love the new hair." Duncan is staring right at him, still smiling faintly, but as he stares he suddenly begins looking around, searching for the man who has now vanished without a trace. ---- At "Le Blues Bar," Joe is sitting alone at a table, playing his guitar. As he plays, he hears Duncan's voice, and remembers times in his past with Duncan. Duncan: "Follow your instincts. That's all you can do." Cut to the two of them, riding the dojo elevator down, leaning against opposite walls while they talk. Joe: "And what if you're wrong?" Duncan shrugs, smiling: "Then you're wrong." At the bar, Joe keeps playing. Again, Duncan's voice is heard, this time from the trial in "Judgment Day." Duncan: "I've spent my entire existence fighting other immortals. Men who hold life cheap. I live--no, I survive--because I value life. Back to the bar, Joe playing, and thinking. Cut to "Something Wicked." Joe: "I know your strength. I know your will. I know your goodness." Duncan stares at him, quietly seething. "Whatever monsters are in you now, I know you're still in there, too." Joe keeps playing, and hears Duncan from the tag of "Little Tin God." Duncan: "I can quote a whole bunch of people, Joe, but it all boils down to one thing." Joe: "And that is?" Cut to Duncan, picking up his drink: "Faith, Joe. Faith." Joe sits in the bar, fist to his mouth, thinking. Act Two http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top At the barge, Duncan walks across the floor, looking out. The barge is stripped bare, all the furniture and fixtures gone except for a tiny, low table, a couple of cabinets, a woven hanging on a frame, and the bed. Duncan pushes the little table back towards the stove with his foot, and walks to the raised area where the bed is, leaning on the floor to look at the bare room. He comes up on deck, putting the coat on, and turns to see Joe drive up. Joe gets out, and walks up to the edge of the water, MacLeod pacing along the deck to meet him. Joe: "You know this is insane, MacLeod. I mean, you're asking me to believe in a demon, something that I cannot see, maybe never will see. How do I do it, MacLeod?" Duncan nods: "Thanks for thinking about it." He turns to go. Joe holds up a hand: "Hey, wait. I'm not finished yet." Duncan stops. "Now maybe I can't believe in a demon. But MacLeod, I believe in you. Whatever this thing is, and wherever it takes you . . . I'm in." Duncan smiles a little, and nods. He jumps down, and shakes Joe's hand. ---- On the bridge over the river, Sophie walks up to the rail, still holding the red rose. She stops at the railing, looking down into the water. ---- Back at the barge, Duncan walks Joe back to his car. Duncan: "We have to find something we can use against it, some flaw, some weakness." Joe: "Yeah, okay. Assuming--assuming that it has one." Duncan: "Oh, it has one. Evil isn't perfect, Joe. It's got a crack somewhere. I couldn't have stopped it with a sword, but it has been stopped before." ---- At the bridge, Sophie drops the rose into the water, watching it fall. ---- Joe: "Listen, I, uh, I got something for you." He opens the back of his Jeep. "See, I, uh . . ." He reaches in and takes out Duncan's katana, wrapped in cloth. "I figured you might want this." Duncan looks at it, uncomfortable, then looks away: "No." Joe: "What do you mean, no?" Duncan: "I mean, no." He glances at the sword. "The last time I held it Richie died." Joe, shaking his head: "But you're still an immortal, MacLeod. Somebody's going to come with a sword." Duncan, smiling: "Yeah, well, I'll find another way." He turns to walk off. Joe, stepping after him: "Well, what are you going to do?! Dance with them?!" Duncan says nothing, reaching and opening the driver's door for him. Joe lets out his breath in an exasperated sigh. "You always were a stubborn son of a bitch." He puts the katana back in the Jeep and shuts the door. "Yeah." He comes up to the door and puts his hand on it. "All right. As soon as I have anything, I'll call you. Assuming you're still wearing that head." He gets in, and Duncan shuts the door behind him. ---- On the bridge, Sophie climbs up to the railing, and jumps off into the water. She surfaces, struggling, and begins to gasp, crying out in panic. Duncan turns as he hears her, and sees her in the water. He rushes up to the bridge and jumps in, and finally manages to find her and carry her to shore. He lays Sophie on the stone wall and does mouth to mouth and CPR. Duncan, pressing at her chest: "Come on, breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe!" Sophie finally coughs, choking, and he helps her lean over to get the last of the water from her lungs. She sits up, bewildered. Duncan: "It's okay. It's all right." Sophie, pushing her wet hair from her face: "What--what happened?" Duncan: "Looks like you went for a swim." Sophie, confused: "I was in the river?" Duncan, looking at her in concern, but keeping his voice casual: "Under it, actually, for a while." He looks her up and down. "What happened?" Sophie, still confused: "I don't know." She looks around. "I must have slipped and--" Duncan: "From the railing?" Sophie: "I don't remember. I--I was at the bus stop, and--" She looks around. "My books." She claps her hands to her head, starting to panic. "My glasses!" Duncan takes her hands, trying to calm her: "It's okay. Easy, easy. It's all right." He pulls her soaked jacket around her a little more tightly, but she's on the edge of greater panic. In the distance, sirens can be heard, coming closer. Sophie, firm: "I need to go home." Duncan: "I think you should see a doctor." Sophie: "No, no really. I'm all right. I'll be all right." Duncan: "You're sure." Sophie nods: "Yeah." Duncan, gently: "Come on, I'll give you a ride." He puts a hand on her arm, guiding her to the ramp. "I'm Duncan MacLeod." She walks a few steps, then stops and turns back. Sophie: "I'm Sophie Baines." She wipes her hands awkwardly on her skirt, and holds one out. They shake. "Thank you for saving my life." Duncan takes her arm again: "Come on." ---- After Duncan and Sophie walk away, a strange scene is played out, silently. The red rose appears, floating on the water, then it sinks underneath. Two men run up to the shore, and pull at the body they see floating in the water. The bleeding rose that Duncan saw appears again, dripping more blood. As the two men drag the body out, the rose begins to streak with red. When they lay the drowned woman down and brush the hair away from her face, the face is Sophie's. The white rose turns completely red, and fades into Horton's face. The floating rose appears again, up from under the water, and floats swiftly away down the river. ---- At the barge, Duncan is meditating again, making the same sighing moans he did before. Joe comes in, and looks around at the bare space. Joe: "What, you had a garage sale and you didn't call me?" Duncan stops the meditation, glancing at Joe as he walks to fetch a towel: "Clearing out the cobwebs, Joe. No distractions, no diversions." Joe laughs shortly: "Yeah. Yeah, not much of anything, really." He follows Duncan over to the kitchen, asking curiously, "You, uh, were you working out?" Duncan: "In a way. It's a form of meditation called Chi Gung. It helps me empty my mind and focus. Illusions and chaos are his weapons, Joe. The more I can focus, the better I can fight him." Joe nods, still looking skeptical: "Okay. If you say so. But I still vote for the sword." He looks down at the tea that Duncan's prepared. "You got anything stronger than this tea?" He looks up and grins. "I don't need to be quite so focused." Duncan reaches silently under the counter and brings up a bottle and a glass. "Thanks. I'll meditate when I retire." Duncan picks up his bowl of tea and moves to the middle of the room: "What did you find out?" Joe: "Well, Landry had an assistant at the University. She might know something." Duncan: "Did you get a name?" Joe: "Yeah, Sophie Baines." Duncan, taking a sip of his tea, lowers the bowl without changing expression: "About twenty-five, lives in a suburb outside of Paris." Joe, surprised: "Yeah. You know her?" Duncan nods: "We met. Yesterday." He glances at Joe. "Check the University. See what you can find out." Joe: "MacLeod. You're telling to me that you just happened to meet the one person you needed to find." He laughs. "I mean, doesn't that sound pretty damn weird to you?" Duncan, a trifle testily: "Compared to what?" Joe: "Yeah. Right. Compared to what." ---- Duncan goes up to Sophie's home, and buzzes at the gate. He peers over it, and sees Andrew Baines in the drive, working on his motorcycle. Duncan: "Hi." Andrew, surly: "What do you want?" Duncan: "I'm looking for Sophie Baines." Andrew: "What for?" Duncan: "I need to talk to her." Andrew opens the gate a fraction: "About what ?" Duncan: "It's personal." Andrew nods, clearly not impressed: "She's out." Duncan: "Then when will she be home?" Andrew, uncaring: "Beats the hell out of me." He starts to close the gate, but Duncan puts a hand out, stopping him. Duncan: "This is important. Do you know where I can find her?" Andrew looks down: "Look, Mister, I've never seen you before, and I don't know who the hell you are. So why don't you go away before somebody gets hurt?" He smiles tightly. Duncan, evenly: "Tell her Duncan MacLeod came by." Andrew slams the gate in his face. Duncan turns away, and sees Sophie standing on the street. She's talking to Horton in his car. Horton sees Duncan, and Sophie looks up, looking to where he's staring. She turns to Duncan, and Horton peals away. Sophie, friendly: "Mr. MacLeod. What are you doing here?" Duncan: "That man you were talking to. Who was he?" Sophie looks at where Horton has gone, clearly puzzled: "Nobody. He was just asking directions, why?" She looks up at Duncan, confused. Duncan, pleasantly nasty: "Try again." Sophie backs away a step: "What? What do you mean?" Duncan, still pleasant: "Your field at the University is Near East studies. You knew about Ahriman." Sophie looks nonplussed: "Yeah." Duncan: "That's why he's here." Louder. "That was Ahriman." Behind them, Andrew opens the gate. Sophie nods, in an "okay, now I know you're crazy" way. Sophie: "Ahriman. Right." She tries to walk past Duncan, but he grabs her arm. Duncan: "Yes. Ahriman." Sophie: "Oh, I get it. This is a joke, right? Anna sent you." Duncan: "It's no joke!" Sophie: "No, no, you see, Ahriman isn't real. He's a myth, he's a metaphor." Duncan, losing his patience: "Listen to me, Sophie, you and I both know he's not some mythological character. He's real." Andrew is walking up quickly behind Duncan, holding a large wrench in his hand. Sophie tries to get past Duncan again, and again he blocks her. "And you know it, Sophie. Listen to me. It's the end of the millennium and he's here." He turns as Andrew swings at him. Sophie: "Andrew! Andrew, stop it!" Duncan hits Andrew, putting him down, but Sophie grabs his arms, stopping him from following through. Sophie: "Please, don't hurt him! He's my brother, he was just trying to protect me." Duncan: "Why was Ahriman here!" Sophie: "I don't know! I don't anything! Just leave us alone!" Duncan steps away, backing off as Sophie helps Andrew to his feet. Duncan turns and walks off, and Andrew runs back to the house, Sophie going after him. Sophie: "Andrew, wait." ---- Duncan rounds the corner of the street, and looks up the alley to see Horton's BMW sitting there, waiting. The glass is tinted so that he can't really see inside, but as he looks the engine revs and car starts forward slowly. Duncan turns and walks away slowly, casually, but then the car accelerates and Duncan starts to run. He dodges around several tight turns in the maze of alleys, but soon comes up to a dead end, blocked by another car. Duncan jumps on the car as the BMW accelerates toward him, and dives off the car as the BMW crashes into it. He rolls off the back of Horton's car, and staggers to the passenger side. As he reaches it, the windows roll down, and Horton's voice comes out of the radio. Horton, cheerfully: "It's H-E-Double-L and you're listening to the Voice of the Millennium. Now here's an oldie but goodie for my old friend, Duncan MacLeod." A hideous cacophony of tuneless guitar playing and offbeat drumming starts blaring from the radio, and Duncan covers his ears. He reaches in to the turn it off, and eventually succeeds in ripping the radio out of the dash, stopping the horrible noise. ---- Back at Sophie's house, Sophie is confronting Andrew. Sophie: "Why do you always have to be the man around the house?" Andrew: "I am the man around the house." Sophie, patient but exasperated, too: "You're my little brother. You're not my protector." Andrew, contrite: "I'm sorry." Sophie, very softly: "Come here." She puts her arms around him, and holds him. Sophie: "I love you, Andrew." She lets him go, and he looks at her for a moment and then hugs her back. Andrew: "I love you, too." As they embrace, the shot pans to a white rose in a vase, which begins to bleed, and then turn red. Act Three http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top Joe and Duncan are sitting on a wall �by the river, talking. Duncan: "I saw him, Joe." Joe, skeptical: "You saw him today." Duncan: "And yesterday." Joe drops his head, shaking it disbelievingly. "He was at Richie's grave." Joe, sighing: "I got two dozen Watchers on this thing. Field guys and every archaeologist we can spare." Duncan: "What did you tell them?" Joe: "That I had a lead on an immortal older than Methos." Duncan looks away, nodding as if to say, "Yeah, that'll work . . ." Joe shakes his head. "I hate lying to them, Mac." Duncan: "Yeah, well you think they could handle the truth?" He stands up. Joe: "Yeah, sure. Right after they lock me up." Duncan: "They find anything out yet?" Joe: "No. You know, some scholars think that the ancient Hebrews didn't even believe in a devil until they were exiled in Babylon. And when they got there . . ." He shrugs. "Guess who the Babylonian boogieman was." Duncan: "Ahriman." Joe: "Good answer. See, to some cultures he's Set, to some he's Mara, to some he's Mephistopheles." Duncan nods: "Different names and faces, same M. O., same place." Joe: "And there's always a champion of the good." Duncan: "An avatar." He glances back at Joe. "A human with God-like qualities sent to face evil." Joe: "Like immortals." He gives a short sigh. "Damn, man." Duncan comes over to sit next to him again: "Yeah, but knowing it doesn't get us any nearer to finding his weakness. What about the University?" Joe: "No help there. All of Dr. Baines research was destroyed in a fire. And they had a hell of a time finding her." Duncan, getting up again: "Well, she was at home, talking to me." Joe: "Uh-uh. Not today, Mac. Not this woman." Duncan looks back at him: "No, I saw her." Joe, nodding to the water: "They found Sophie Baines in the river." ---- Flash to Sophie being dragged out again. ---- Joe: "She's dead." Duncan looks over the river, worried and confused. ---- Horton, speaking to Sophie at her place: "I know it's hard, Sophie, but I am trying to help you." Sophie laughs disbelievingly: "By telling me I'm dead?" Horton looks at her, sympathy written all over his face. "And who are you? You're insane!" Horton: "I am many things, Sophie, but I am not insane. So, you must be dead. You died yesterday in the river. Don't you remember?" He looks at her intently. "Cold? The light, fading as you sank into the dark?" Sophie, becoming uncertain: "I don't remember." She thinks about herself, falling in. "I--I blacked out. I don't remember anything." Horton: "So, you must be dead." Sophie: "I don't know who you are, or what you want." She dives for the phone, and dials the emergency number. "Police. There's somebody in my house!" Horton's voice, from the phone: "Why don't you believe me, Sophie? You died yesterday, in the river. Don't you remember?" Horton regards Sophie sympathetically from across the room as she backs away. Sophie: "Who is this?!" Horton, from the phone: "Me!" Horton, from across the room: "I'm over here, Sophie. And you're beginning to hurt my feelings." Horton, from the phone: "And believe me, you don't want to hurt my feelings." Sophie drops the phone and runs out, panicked. She dashes to her car, but as she reaches for the door she hears Horton's voice again. Horton, faint and echoing: "Don't leave me, Sophie." Sophie looks up, but there's no one there. She gets in the car and drives. As she roars off, Horton strolls out of the gate, looking after her. ---- Sophie drives on, but as she turns a corner she sees a man standing in the middle of the street, his back to her. She slows, and the man turns to look at her. It's Horton. Sophie floors the accelerator and runs him down, the body smashing her windshield into thousands of cracks. Sophie drives on, leaving the body in the street. She stares ahead, numb with panic, and Horton appears in the back seat. Horton: "That wasn't very nice, Sophie." She jerks around to stare at him, and he reappears in the front seat. "You should keep your eyes on the road, Sophie. Someone could get hurt like that." She stares forward again, the windshield repairs itself, the cracks vanishing. She drives on. ---- At the morgue, Duncan is talking to the morgue attendant. Duncan: "If you couldn't find the next of kin, then how did you identify the body?" Attendant: "Her cards, Monsieur. She carried a wallet." The attentant opens the cabinet, reaching inside. Duncan: "Then you could be mistaken." Attendant, calmly: "It's possible." She pulls out the gurney on which the body rests. "Death is never an easy thing to accept. I'll leave you alone." She leaves. Duncan stares down at the draped body, then reaches out and flips the sheet down. ---- Meanwhile, Sophie drives up to the morgue in her car, Horton still sitting beside her. She scrambles out at she stops the car, looking around in panic. Sophie: "Help me! Somebody please help me! Help me!!!" Horton appears next to the morgue entrance: "I'm trying, Sophie, but you keep running away." Sophie: "Who . . . Who are you? What are you?" Horton walks up to her: "I think you know, Sophie. I think you've always known." He puts a hand on her arm, pointing the building. "Look." Sophie stares at the door: "I don't understand." Horton, patiently: "You soon will, Sophie. It's the morgue." He turns to her, whispering in her ear. "Off you go." She walks inside numbly. ---- Duncan turns from the body as he hears the door open, and sees Sophie walk in. Sophie: "What are you doing here?" Duncan: "Trying to find some answers." Sophie walks hesitantly to the middle of the room: "You're hiding something. What are you hiding?" Duncan, puzzled: "Who are you, Sophie?" Sophie, nearly in tears: "I have to see who's in there. I have to." Duncan steps aside, saying nothing. Sophie walks forward, reaching for the drape. She pulls the sheet back, and staggers against the open door, leaning on it as she stares down at the face on the gurney. Sophie, whispering: "My God. Oh, my God." She looks down, seeing her own face. Sophie slumps back against the wall. "I'm dead." She looks up at Duncan in horror. "I'm dead." Duncan goes to her, reaching for her hand, but she pulls away, running out of the room. He looks after her, then turns and covers the body again, pushing it back into the cabinet and shutting the door before following Sophie outside, But when he goes outside, Sophie and her car are gone. He looks around, a worried, thoughtful look on his face. Act Four http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top Duncan comes back home to the barge. He takes off his jacket, then moves to light candles. As he lights the first candle, he looks up. Duncan, not looking around: "I can feel you. I know you're here. " He turns around. Horton, standing across the room: "Very good, MacLeod. And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Duncan starts walking towards him. "So, you did learn something in that little monastery." He steps towards Duncan, his voice dropping. "Did you find peace, MacLeod? Will you be calm when I begin to destroy all the things you know and all the people you love?" Duncan's mouth tightens in fury, and he reaches out, grabbing Horton by the throat. Horton: "What are you trying to do, MacLeod? Strangle me or try and guess my weight?" Duncan only squeezes harder, and Horton turns into Sophie. She starts gasping, panicking, and Duncan drops her to the floor, backing away in horror. He whirls as Horton speaks in his ear. Horton: "You're such a soft touch, Duncan. Duncan--I can call you Duncan, can't I?--I see no reason for us to be enemies. After all, you're a warrior, you're a champion. We could help each other." Duncan: "I don't think so." They begin circling one another around the low table, Horton speaking passionately. Horton: "Why not? Because I'm evil? It's so limited, so human. What is good? And what is evil? Such a limited world, the human mind. I couldn't begin to describe to you what I really am, MacLeod, you wouldn't begin to understand." Duncan, sarcastic: "So that's it, is it? A thousand years of bad PR." Horton: "But I can give you a world you've never imagined. I can give you anything." Duncan: "There's nothing I want from you." Horton: "Is that right? Think about it, MacLeod. I brought Sophie back from the dead. I could bring anyone back." Duncan, seeing where this is going: "No." Horton: "Don't be hasty, MacLeod. Don't be hasty." He turns, breathing in deeply, closing his eyes. "There are so many memories in here. Now, I wonder, what would it be? Oh, yes. A blast from the past." He turns to the door, and Duncan looks, too, seeing a younger Richie walking down the steps, a stunned look on his face. Duncan takes a step forward. Richie: "I never thought one of the good guys would lose." Duncan, shaking his head: "No, he's dead." He keeps shaking his head. "No, you can't. It won't work. You can't tempt me." Horton, his voice getting harder: "I'm only just getting warmed up!" He comes up beside Duncan, looking the other way, towards the bed. "There are plenty more surprises in store." Duncan looks, and this time it's Tessa's voice he hears. She's sitting on the couch. Tessa: "Duncan." Duncan steps forward, his voice small, and plaintive: "Tess?" He keeps walking forward. Tessa: "Mac. You're mad at yourself, I can tell." Duncan, roughly: "No. She's gone. She's not real." Horton, harshly: "Real enough, MacLeod. You could have her back forever. Just say the word. Say 'yes.'" Duncan: "NO!!!" He strides forward, and Horton vanishes, leaving him alone. ---- Horton and Sophie are walking through a park. Horton: "Don't take it so hard, Sophie. We all have to go sometime." Sophie: "But I don't understand. How can I be . . . there, and here? How? It can't happen?" She turns to face him. "None of this can happen." Horton: "You're here, Sophie." He walks toward her, backing her against a tree. "Walking, breathing, alive, smelling the flowers, because I made it so. I saved you. I gave you another chance." Sophie stares at him: "You're not . . . him." Horton, pleasantly: "Of course I am." Sophie: "But I don't understand. What do you want from me? I'm nobody." Horton: "Oh, no. You're good. You're . . ." He looks her up and down. " . . . kind. You're perfect." He leans in closer. "For a small favor . . . The man who pulled you out of the river yesterday." Sophie, confused: "Duncan MacLeod?" Horton: "I want you to kill him." Sophie, backing away, horrified: "What? I couldn't do that." Horton, dismissively: "Oh, don't be so modest. Of course you could. As far as he's concerned you're a victim. His defenses are down, he's vulnerable." She looks at him, afraid and confused. "Of course, I could make you do it. Like I made you jump off the bridge. But then, he would know that I was in here." He presses a hand to her chest. "No, this must be because you want it to happen." Sophie: "But I don't want it to happen." Horton: "But you will, considering what's at stake." Sophie shakes her head: "It doesn't matter. I won't kill him." Horton, sternly: "I'm disappointed in you, Sophie." He holds out his hand. After a puzzled moment, Sophie puts her fingers in his. He raised the hand up, regarding it thoughtfully, then abruptly squeezes it hard. Sophie gasps in pain, sinking down against the tree. "Do you feel that, Sophie? That's the life going out of you, draining away. Now it's in your hand. Now it's going up your arm. Feel that, Sophie? That's death. How does it feel?" He finally releases her and she slumps down, gasping in relief. "Will you kill Duncan MacLeod? Think of your brother. Think of Andrew." He stares into her eyes, then glances past her, his face crumpling in sympathy as he sees something beyond her. She turns to look, and sees Andrew emerge from the trees into the park. Horton continues from behind her. "Troubled boy, prone to violence. What will become of him without you? Drugs? Prison? Imagine . . . On top of a roof with a rifle." In the park, Andrew has grabbed another boy, pushing at him, and they start scuffling. Horton goes on. "All that anger. I could do it, Sophie." Sophie turns to him: "No, please. I beg you. Leave him alone." Horton touches her face: "Then you know what you have to do." He strokes her cheek. "I don't think it's such a difficult decision." He leaves. Tag http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top At the bridge, Duncan walks up to find Sophie there, leaning on the railing. Duncan: "Sophie?" Sophie jerks around to look at him, and stares at him for a long moment. Sophie: "He wants me to kill you. He offered me my life." Duncan says nothing. "He told me it would be easy." Sophie looks down. "It's not." Duncan paces around her slowly: "It never is." Sophie: "I shouldn't even be here. You saved me once. You're the champion, aren't you?" Duncan nods, smiling wryly. "Then--then you're the only one who can defeat him." She looks at him, her face starting to shine in hope. "Is there anything . . . Is there any way you can . . ." She smiles weakly, pathetically hopeful. "Please, I want so much to live." Duncan: "I'm sorry." Sophie looks down, biting her lip, then starts pacing around Duncan in her turn. Sophie: "What he did to me . . . What he does. It's wrong. It's evil!" Duncan, urgently: "Then help me destroy him. You've studied him, you've studied the legends. How do I defeat him?" Sophie looks uncertain: "I don't know. I think every champion has to find his own way." Duncan, frustrated: "Sophie, what does that mean? Sophie, I need to know more. I need to know how." He's looking at her, intent, when a gun fires from behind him, hitting him in the back. Duncan falls, and Andrew is standing there, the gun in one hand and a short sword in the other. Sophie catches Duncan as he falls, then rises to face Andrew. Andrew: "He told me everything. He said if I kill him you'll live. He said you'll be all right. He promised me." Sophie goes toward him: "Andrew. No." Andrew: "He said you'd live, don't you see? It's you, or him." He starts toward Duncan, but Sophie holds him back. Sophie: "You can't kill him for me. I won't let you!" Andrew pushes her aside: "I have to." He steps toward Duncan, who's just starting to get up. He raises the sword over Duncan's head. Behind him, Sophie grabs for the rail. Sophie: "Andrew!" She climbs up to the rail. "Andrew!" He turns to look at her. "Andrew, no! He said I would do anything because I loved you!" Duncan looks at her in horror. "He was right." She pushes herself up to stand on the railings. Andrew rushes towards her: "No, no! No, don't! NOOO!!!" But he's too late to stop her. Sophie jumps, plunging into the water. Andrew looks over, reaching down as if he could still catch her. He rises up, looking out over the river. Andrew: "Why?" He drops the sword on the railing and rushes off the bridge, leaving Duncan standing at the rail. Duncan: "Because she loved you." He looks down at the water. A red rose floats on the river, then turns to white. To be continued Notes http://www.yak.net/ian/jinjifore/107avatar.html#top About this Horton / Ahriman thing. Horton is, as far as I can tell, Ahriman, but he's still listed in the credits as "Horton" and since that's the name we're familiar with for this particular person, I've decided to stick with Horton and just assume that we all know it's really Ahriman. Speaking of Ahriman, here's a tidbit from the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. (New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. Ed. Felix Guirand. Trans. Richard Aldington and Delano Ames. Hong Kong: Hamlyn, 1973.) This is from the "Mythology of Ancient Persia" section: The Antagonism Between Ormazd and Ahriman. The omniscient Lord, Ahura Mazda, by a fusion of his two names, became Ormazd. Angra Mainyu-'agonised or negative Thought'-became Ahriman. These two personages marked the two poles of existence. The first created life, the second death. The first consisted of light and truth, the second of darkness and falsehood. They could be defined by their antagonism: the god as anti-demon, the demon as anti-god. The real world was the result of their hand to hand struggle. All was conflict between these two principles. Although Peter Wingfield is in the title credits, he will only appear the last three episodes this season. I'm not sure how many shows Elizabeth Gracen signed for, I think maybe four? Anyway, just wanted to make it known that although they've both been added to the credits, they'll not necessarily be appearing in a greater number of episodes, and in Peter's case it will be fewer than in past seasons. Category:Highlander: The Series